FOUR WINDS 69,

KINDRED 49

Going into Saturday’s Class B Boys’ Basketball Finals game between Four Winds/Minnewauken and Kindred, one of two things had to give – either Four Winds perfect record or Kindred defending its 2021 Class B Boys’ Basketball State Championship.

The Indians (27-0) led by Jayden Yankton made sure they remained perfect and wrestled the Class B State championship away from the Kindred Vikings, defeating the 2021 Class B state champions, 69-49.

Submitted Photo Four Wind’s Jayden Yankton brings the ball up the court on Saturday in the North Dakota Class B Boys’ Basketball State Championship. Yankton led Four Winds past Kindred, to claim the Class B state championship. Yankton was named the tournament’s MVP. Photos courtesy of NDHSAA on Twitter.

“Very proud of them, you know,” said Four Winds head coach Rick Smith. “When we started out this season, we lost that big senior crew last year. We didn’t know what to expect. We kept grinding and kept getting better. Our two seniors (Yankton and Pearson) were unbelievable all season.”

Four Winds started fast, opening the game on a 7-0 run, getting a jumper from Deng Deng. Then it was Yankton, hitting for five points. The Indians’ defense refused to relent, and its offense was too efficient. Jacolby Pearson added five for Four Winds. Kelson Keja and Wade Nestell both chipped in two points each. The Indians finished the first quarter, leading 16-8.

The teams played even through the second quarter, with both teams scoring 14 points, going into the locker room with Four Winds leading 30-22. Yankton scored seven. Deng added a 3-pointer. Dalen Leftbear and Pearson scored two points. For the Vikings, Maxwell McQuillan scored five points. Brock Woehl added a 3-pointer. Paul Olson, Riley Sunram and Jaiden Peraza scored two points each.

The Vikings opened the third quarter with seven-point run, that cut the Indians’ lead to one point, 30-29. Brady Woehl hit his second 3-pointer of the game. Olson and Sunram scored two points each. The Indians responded, getting a 3-pointer from Leftbear, to push the lead to 33-29. The Vikings’ Jaiden Peraza followed that with a dunk, cutting the lead back to two, 33-31.

The Vikings did not get any closer. The Indians went on a 14-0 run to put the game out of reach. Deng scored eight points during the Indians’ run, and Yankton scored six. The Indians held a 10-point lead at the end of the third quarter, 49-39. Four Winds finished the game, outscoring the Vikings 20-10 in the fourth quarter.

“They didn’t seem to have any pressure on their shoulders,” said an emotional Smith after the game. “You’d think the pressure would get tighter and tighter. The lights just kept getting brighter and brighter, and we beat three great teams here.”

Yankton led all scorers with 22 points. Deng finished with a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Deng, who almost plays a free safety position in the Indians’ pressure defense, had seven blocks and three steals. Pearson added 15 points. Leftbear scored eight points. Rounding out the Four Winds’ scoring, Kelson Keja finished with four and Wade Nestell two points. Four Winds finished the game shooting 39% from behind the 3-point arc and 50.9% from the field. The Indians held the Vikings to 35.8% shooting from the field and 23.5% from behind the 3-point arc.

Olson led the Vikings with 13 points. Peraza and McQuillan scored ten points each. Woehl added eight points. Sunram scored six points and Karson Ouse finished with two points for the Vikings.

The Class B Boys’ Championship is the second in school history for Four Winds/Minnewauken, who finishes the season a perfect 27-0. Yankton was named the tournament MVP and Smith was named the Class B coach of the year in boys’ basketball.

Four Winds 16 14 19 20 – 69

Kindred 8 14 17 10 – 49

FOUR WINDS (69): Deng 8 0-1 19, Leftbear 3 0-0 8, Yankton 9 2-2 22, Pearson 5 2-2 14, Kel Keja 2 0-0 4, St. Pierre 0 0-0 0, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Nestell 1 0-0 2, Dauphinals 0 0-0 0, Kyl Keja 0 0-0 0, Totals 28 4-5 69. 

KINDRED (49): Woehl 2 2-2 8, Olson 6 0-2 13, McQuillan 3 3-4 10, Ja Peraza 5 0-0 10, Sunram 2 2-4 8, Campbell 0 0-0 0, Ouse 1 0-0 2, Dockter 0 0-0 0, Pr Peraza 1 0-0 2, Swenson 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Totals 19 7-12 49.

3-point goals — Deng 3, Leftbear 2, Yankton 2, Pearson 2, Woehl 2, Olson, McQuillan.

Third Place Game

LAMOURE 45,

BISHOP RYAN 38

The scripts for both the LaMoure-Litchville/Marion (LLM) Loboes and the Bishop Ryan Lions in the 2022 North Dakota Class B Boys’ basketball tournament started with fundamentally sound in your face defense, leading to offense.

Saturday’s third place game featured two mirror-images, battling for third place and to no one’s surprise, the game came down to the final few minutes. The Loboes had just enough offense late to finish third in Class B with a 45-38 win over Bishop Ryan.

Tied 36-36 with four minutes left in the game, the Loboes found one last offensive burst to put the Lions away, Max Musland broke the tie, hitting a floater along the baseline. Charlie Bowman buried a 3-pointer and after a Lion’s turnover, Colton Ness scored on a layup, giving the Loboes a 43-36 lead. Lion’s freshman phenom Ramsey Walz, ended the Loboes run, with a tip-in with 20 seconds left, to cut the lead back to five, 43-38. But a pair of Corban Potts’ free throws iced the game for the Loboes with 14 seconds left on the clock, giving the Loboes the 45-38 win.

“That’s what they are, a bunch of fighters. Our guys are gritty,” said LLM head coach Darren Thielgas. “They just grind, and they fight through everything the need to. They don’t care where the scoring comes from, they just find ways to win.”

To start the game, the Loboes jumped out to a quick, 4-0 lead, getting buckets from Potts and Musland. Connor Reindel answered for the Lions, 4-2. Potts responded with another bucket to stretch the Loboes lead to 6-2. The Lion’s Walz hit his first of two 3-pointer in the first quarter for the Lions, cutting the lead to 6-5. Potts answered only for Walz to sink his second 3-pointer of the first quarter, tying the score at 8-8. Bishop Ryan’s Brody Feller was fouled shooting a 3-pointer. Feller hit two of three free throws to give the Lions the 10-8 first quarter lead.

To open the second quarter, Joshua Will hit a jumper to put the Lions up four, 12-8. Only to have Potts, hitting two free throws and Bowman answering back for the Loboes, tying the game at 12-12. Carson Merck ended the Loboes run with a 3-pointer for the Lions, 15-12. Landon Piehl and Musland answered for the Loboes. Piehl scored on a layup while Musland hit a pair of free throws, giving the Loboes the 16-15 lead. The Lions scored the next five points, on a Feller 3-pointer and Walz layup, moving the score to 20-16. The Loboes answered back with last four points of the first half, coming from Bowman and Potts, tying the game at 20-20.

The Loboes held an 11-10 scoring advantage to take a 31-30 lead into the fourth quarter. Piehl scored five points for the Loboes. Musland added a 3-pointer. Bowman added a bucket and Ness had a free-throw. For the Lions, Feller hit a 3-pointer. Reindel and Johnson both hit a bucket and Walz added a free throw for the Lions.

Walz, finished with a double-double scoring 13 points and grabbing ten rebounds to the lead the Lions, coming off the bench. Feller finished with 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Reindel added six points. Merck added a 3-pointer. Jett Lundeen, Johnson, and Will chipped in two points each for Bishop Ryan.

Musland led LLM with 13 points. Potts finished with a double-double, scoring 12 and grabbing ten rebounds. Bowman added nine points. Piehl finished with seven points and Ness chipped in four points for the Loboes.

LaMoure finishes the season with 24 wins and four losses in third place in Class B. Bishop Ryan finishes with 20 wins, and eight losses. For the Lions, they graduate three senior starters, Joshua Will, Logan Wentz and Jacob Fricke. Bishop Ryan will have a talented core of players returning for the 2022-2023 season. The strong fourth-place finish in Class B can be used as a building block.

LaMoure 8 12 11 14 – 45

Bishop Ryan 10 10 10 8 – 38

LAMOURE (45): Bowman 4 0-1 9, Musland 5 2-2 13, Potts 4 4-4 13, Ness 1 2-5 4, Piehl 3 0-0 7, McGaughy 0 0-0 0, Mart 0 0-0 0, Warcken 0 0-0 0, Hanson 0 0-0 0, Totals 17 8-12 45.

BISHOP RYAN (38): Merck 1 1-1 3, Wentz 0 0-0 0, Feller 3 2-3 10, Will 1 0-2 2, Fricke 0 0-0 0, Johnson 1 0-0 2, McKay 0 0-0 0, Lundeen 1 0-0 2, Reindel 3 0-2 6, Walz 5 1-2 13, Totals 15 3-9 38.

3-point goals — Bowman, Musland, Piehl, Merck, Feller 2, Walz 2.

Fifth Place Game

GRAFTON 48, SHILOH 56

Just like the seventh-place game, a big fourth quarter settled the fifth-place game between Shiloh Christian and Grafton. The Skyhawks used a 19-12 fourth quarter advantage to earn fifth place with the 56-48 win over the Spoilers.

Joseph Wanzek finished with 18 points in the win, to bring his tournament total in three games to 72 points to lead the tournament in scoring. Atticus Wilkinson and MaBahi Baker both finished with ten points each. Kohl Blotske scored six. Isaac Emmel added four points. Kyler Klein, Michael Fagerland, Caden Englund, and Carter Englund chipped in a bucket each in the win for Shiloh.

Braylon Baldwin led all scorers in this one for the Spoilers with 19 points. Juan Villarreal finished with 10. William Jiskra and Maxwell Dumas scored eight points each. Ryan Hanson added three points.

Shiloh Christian finished the season with 23 wins and five loses and in fifth place in Class B Boys’ Basketball. Grafton finished with 19 wins and eight losses.

Grafton 5 10 21 12 – 48

Shiloh 10 13 14 19 – 56

GRAFTON (48): Baldwin 6 2-2 19, Villarreal 4 1-1 10, Hanson 1 0-0 3, Jiskra 4 0-1 8, Dumas 4 0-0 8, Suda 0 0-0 0, D. Perez 0 0-2 0, Sevigny 0 0-0 0, Totals 19 3-4 48.

SHILOH (56): Baker 4 1-2 10, Emmel 2 0-0 4, Klein 1 0-0 2, Wilkinson 5 0-0 10, Wanzek 8 2-2 18, Blotske 2 1-1 6, Fagerland 1 0-0 2, Cad Englund 0 2-4 2, Heringer 0 0-0 0, Westin 0 0-0 0, Huntingon 0 0-0 0, Car Englund 1 0-0 2, Wilkinson 0 0-0 0, Totals 24 6-11 56.

3-point goals — Baldwin 5, Villarreal, Hanson, Baker, Blotske.

Seventh Place Game

BOWMAN COUNTY 49, STANLEY 40

The Bowman County Bulldogs’ defense clamped down in the fourth quarter of the seventh-place game in Saturday’s finals round of the 2022 North Dakota State Class B Boys basketball tournament at the Minot State University Dome. The Bulldogs limited the Stanley Bluejays to just one point in the fourth quarter to claim the 49-40 win in the seventh-place game.

It was the Bulldog’s twin brothers, Bohden Duffield and Bishop Duffield providing the offensive spark. Bohden scored 20 points and Bishop added 16 in the win. Roman Fossum came off the bench to add nine points. Teigen Marmon finished with four points for Bowman County.

For the Bluejays, it was Drake Schlosser off the bench, leading Stanley in scoring with 11 points. Tristen Barstad finished with ten points for Stanley.

Bowman County finishes the season with 20 wins, and just seven losses. Stanley finishes the season with 19 wins and nine losses.

Stanley 11 13 15 1 – 40

Bowman County   15 13 14 7 – 49  

STANLEY (40): Johnson 1 2-2 5, Sorenson 2 0-0 4, Hetzel 3 0-0 7, Hynek 0 0-0 0, Barstad 4 2-4 10, Schlossers 5 1-1 11, Gjellstad 0 0-0 0, Gorder 1 0-0 3, Pappa 0 0-0 0, Ruden 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Totals 16 5-7 40. 

BOWMAN COUNTY (49): Boh Duffield 6 5-6 20, Bis Duffield 7 0-0 16, Massey 0 0-1 0, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Marmon 1 2-2 4, Paulson 0 0-0 0, Meschke 0 0-0 0, Scott 0 0-0 0, Fossum 4 0-0 9, Lambourn 0 0-0 0, Andrews 0 0-0 0, Marmon 0 0-0 0, Kees 0 0-0 0, Totals 18 7-9 49.

3-point goals –Johnson, Hetzel, Gorder, Bo Duffield 3, Bi Duffied 2, Fossum.

Class B All-Tournament Team:

Paul Olson, Kindred

Jaiden Peraza, Kindred

Jacolby Pearson, Four Winds/Minnewaukan

Jayden Yankton, Four Winds/Minnewaukan

Deng Deng, Four Winds/Minnewaukan

Joseph Wanzek, Shiloh Christian

Colton Ness, LaMoure-Litchville/Marion

Brady Feller, Bishop Ryan

Bohden Duffield, Bowman County

William Jiskra, Grafton

MVP - Jayden Yankton, Four Winds/Minnewaukan

NDHSCA (COACHES

ASSOCIATION AWARDS):

NDHSCA Class B Boys Basketball Senior Athlete of the Year:

Trey Brandt, Beulah

NDHSCA Class B

Boys Basketball

Coach of the Year:

Rick Smith, Four Winds/Minnewaukan